The Hierarchy of the Local Church Lesson 4: The Pastor-Teacher

V. The Pastor-Teacher

1. Introduction

Let’s spend a few minutes talking about the office to which our Lord has delegated the responsibility of local Church leadership and education: that is the office of pastor-teacher of the local Church.  Eph 4:11-13 documents its existence and purpose:   

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastor-teachers…  Ephesians 4:11

           This is a listing of communication gifts given during the pre-canon period of the Church Age.  Only two are extent in this post cannon period: the pastor-teacher and the evangelist. This documents the pastor-teacher’s spiritual gifting. First, note the fact that He, our Lord has given this gift, the gift of pastor-teacher to the Church. “He gave some” referring to the fact that He has given the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher to some men.  The word “gave” here is our friend, again, “DIDOMI,” referring to a gift.

     

      2. Purpose of the Spiritual Gift

<!…for the equipping of the saints for the work of service… Ephesians 4:12a

     A saint, that is, a believer in this Church Age, must grow up spiritually.  This spiritual growth must precede any kind of Christian service.  A believer grows up spiritually by means of Bible doctrine taught (and often transcribed!) from the pulpit.  Both the pastor-teacher and the individual believer must be empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Note that one’s spiritual gift also is brought to bear with more effectiveness as spiritual growth increases. 

<!...to the building up [oikodome] of the body of Christ;  Ephesians 4:12b

     In a collective sense, this phrase refers to the formation of the royal family of God during the entire period of the Church Age; i.e., the building up of the body of Christ.  When the royal family is completed, God the Father will bring about the Rapture or Exit Ressurection of the Church.  Individually, however, it refers to the spiritual growth of  believer who expresses his desire to grow up spiritually by placing himself under the ministry of a doctrine teaching pastor.  A believer will experience momentum in the Christian way of life as a result.  Hence, the individual connotation refers to the believer fulfilling God’s personal plan for him or her.  God’s plan for this Church Age differs from His plan for believers in prior and future dispensations.  The believer who grows to spiritual maturity, fulfilling God’s plan becomes a witness for the prosecution in the Angelic Conflict and glorifies God.  When the collective connotation is used, OIKODOME should be translated “construction, building up,” or “building process.”  When the individual connotation is used, OIKODOME should be translated “edification” The collective connotation of OIKODOME is based upon our Lord's third royal patent or title, King of kings and Lord of lords, the Bright and Morning Star, given to Him as a result of His strategic victory in the angelic conflict.

<!…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians 4:13

     This is one verse, that, when talking about the gift of pastor-teacher, says it all.

      3. Pastor-Teacher

      Let’s first define pastor-teacher: The highest human authority in the local Church is that of the pastor teacher.  His authority is second only to that of the Lord’s as delegated through the Word. The term pastor-teacher came from this passage:
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,  (Ephesians 4:11, NASB95)
     In the Greek “pastor and teachers” is translated from ποιμήν  καί διδάσκαλος POIMEN KAI DIDASKOLOS, literally, shepherds and teachers.  Both nouns are in the accusative plural masculine, connected by the conjunction, καί KAI.  The fact that they are both nouns, in the same case, connected by a conjunction fits the pattern of a hendiadys, meaning that two words combine to make one principle. The word, from the Greek, literally means, one by means of two. Two words are used, but only one thing, or one idea is intended. One of the two words expresses the thing, and the other (sometimes a synonym, or even a word denoting a different significance but not a second thing or idea) intensifies or gives greater meaning to the first word.

     POIMEN means shepherd, and it refers to the pastor's authority over and spiritual care of one specific congregation.  It doesn’t imply that the pastor is smarter than his sheep however.  The fact of one congregation follows the pattern of one shepherd who takes care of one flock of sheep.  The shepherd-pastor establishes his authority by faithfully and consistently teaching the Word.  In the realm of sheep, the shepherd is responsible to take full care of his sheep.  This includes taking them to fields with enough grass to eat, seeing that they have access to clean water to drink.  It also includes protecting them from wolves and other predators.  The pastor has much the same responsibility to his congregation. 

Yet, I shouldn’t say that the pastor is responsible to his congregation for these things, because he is responsible to the Lord for his congregation just as the shepherd is responsible to one who owns the sheep for the sheep.  A shepherds is always responsible to the one who owns the sheep for the sheep.  The pastor is responsible to the Lord for his congregation.because He owns the Church and everyone in it. 

The pastor is responsible to see that his congregation is provided with spiritual food.  Just as the shepherd doesn’t lead his flock to fields of canned goods, so the pastor must teach the Word in a manner that his congregation can consume, to understand and apply. So a pastor must speak in a manner that the congregation can understand. he must teach systematically and logically: laying one principle upon another so that each individual can grow up spiritually.  A biology professor would be in error to teach about the skull one class then teach about the metatarsal the next.  Each lesson must be logically built upon another, promoting a logical development of doctrine in the soul of each believer. 

Furthermore, the shepherd must protect his flock: Protecting the believer from predators falls into two general categories: first, insuring that the environment in the assembly is one that is conducive to listening and concentrating upon the Word.  This involves protecting the individual’s privacy as well.  The second category involves the communication of doctrine…systematically as I just mentioned: this teaching, when believed, will protect the believer from temptations to sin and from believing false doctrine.

The second word in Ephesiians 4:11 is DIDASKALOS, this noun refers to one person teaching just one group of people.  As in any realm of education, the authority must lie in the teacher while the congregation assembles to learn doctrine as students under authority.  There is no effective teaching of the Word of God or any other subject for that matter, apart from authority. The DIDASKALOS is not just a teacher in general, but a man who teaches definite skills like reading, fighting or music, developing the aptitudes already present. A DIDASKALOS might impart technical ability, the art of strategy. The decisive point is that systematic instruction is given.  So, the more accurate translation of poimen kai didaskolos, taking both concepts together is “pastor-teacher.”  Fulfilling the responsibility always deals with the clear, concise teaching of the Word of God.

        4. Office Qualifications

Now, let’s look at the qualifications for this office.  The first category of qualification for this office is spiritual gifting.  God the Holy Spirit, in His sovereignty, bestows this spiritual gift of communication to men only.  And, as with other spiritual gifts, this is given to the believer by the Spirit at the moment of salvation. Now, this particular spiritual gift is only given to men, but to all kinds of men!  Often the men to whom this gift is given really shows God's sense of humor!  Possessing this gift does not automatically qualify a man to stand behind the pulpit to teach a congregation. As with the other spiritual gifts of communication, evangelism and missionary, a man must prepare to function as a pastor.

Much formal preparation is necessary.  Two categories of preparation is necessary.  The first category should include time spent under strict authority in order to learn obedience.  Being under the authority of an unfair boss or military training fills this bill!  A pastor needs to be oriented to authority and know how to use it.  No man clearly understands authority or leadership without having been under a system of strict authority, fair or unfair.  Under strict authority, the only issue is obedience.  A slave must know how to obey without reaction, especially in obedience to the perfect master.  The issue in this category of preparation is obedience. The second category of necessary preparation is academic. Training in formal languages includes the  Biblical languages to include Hebrew, Aramaic and the different dialects of Greek.  Koine is the most important to master.  Latin and German can be real handy too, because many commentaries and linguistic texts are based upon German and Latin scholarship.  Other subjects, history and linguistics are also very important.  If a pastor is not trained in these areas, then he must rely upon a pastor who is proficient in these areas.  One of the most important areas of education is theological.  A pastor must have been thoroughly inculcated with the dispensational framework of theology so that he will have the structure of God's revelation in his thinking from which to interpret the Scripture.

When a man accepts the office of pastor-teacher, he must understand that he has a very serious responsibility.  The office of pastor teacher is always greater than the man who fills it and because it is an office of the local Church, that is, part of the body of Christ, Bride of Christ, it demands respect from the man who fills it.  Because the demands of the office are greater than the man who fills it, he must constantly be aware of the necessity of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to empower him to fulfill the role that the office demands.  A pastor in that office brings respect to that office by preparing and delivering sound Bible teaching to the congregation, which give that congregation the ability to grow up spiritually.  This is a very weighty obligation because it often takes hours to prepare just a short message.  The pastor must ensure that the doctrines he is teaching are valid doctrines, not opinions.

5. Pastoral Function

The pastor-teachers function and authority are limited by the Word ofGgod.  First, as Paul wrote to Timothy, the pastor is to:

…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  2 Timothy 4:2

This is what the pastor is to do.  All other pastoral functions are subcategorizes of this function.  A pastor leads by teaching and by his own application of the Word.  A pastor sets administrative policy by, again, teaching the Word!  To “preach” means that the pastor teacher is to proclaim the Word as a herald, announcing to the world a message from our highest authority.  To “be ready in season and out of season?”  At no time should the pastor be without a prepared message for any occasion.   A pastor does not know exactly when he may be called up to proclaim the Word.  This teaching will fulfill a number of principles which Paul lists:

Reprove- The pastor is to correct those who believe in errornious doctrines.

with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,  2 Timothy 2:25

Rebuke- Those is a state of sin, he is to rebuke.

Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.” 1 Timothy 5:20“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…” 2 Timothy 3:16

“This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, Titus 1:13

These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.  Titus 2:15

Exhort- To those who are learning and applying doctrine, therefore growing in grace, he is to encourage.

     These are the facets of the pastor-teachers ministry: proclamation, correction, rebuke, and encouragement.  He must do these things patiently and carefully, always emphasizing Scriptureal instruction.

Now as to the content of a pastor’s teaching: Bible doctrine, Bible doctrine, Bible doctrine! A pastor should never apologize for teaching the technical things, things difficult to understand.  A pastor cannot expect his congregation to grow without understanding every aspect of a given passage, understanding every derivative doctrine.  A pastor cannot build his ministry upon the titillating things like Bible stories and illustrations, though these things can be fun to teach!  Understanding the advanced things of the Word takes concentration on the part of the believer in the pew and becomes a real test of volition.  It often takes great effort to keep concentrating upon the teaching of the Word!  He has no other authority over a congregation.  And this authority is given to him by the congregation who accepts His pastoral authority.  He cannot force his authority. 

6. Authority

      There is another issue beyond the content of the pastor’s teaching which deals with those over whom he has been given authority. His authority is limited in scope.  Just as a shepherd is over one flock, so is the pastor-teacher over one congregation. He is guardian of only one congregation over which the Lord has given him charge. One pastor is be over one congregation.  Listen to Eph 4:16: this is Bob Thieme’s translation:

Because of whom [Lord Jesus Christ] the entire body, being joined together [baptism of the Spirit] and being inculcated by every joint of supply [pastor-teacher] on the basis of the operational power [Holy Spirit’s ministry of empowerment], in measure one [pastor-teacher] for each part [of the royal family of God]; he himself [pastor-teacher] causes growth in the body, resulting in its edification by means of virtue-love.   Ephesians 4:16 

     Note that this verse clearly teaches that one pastor is to be in charge of one congregation.  There are several reasons for this.  First, of course, it is a direct mandate from the Scripture.  One pastor for each part of the royal family.  Each part of royal family is a local Church.  Not a denomination, not a series of Churches.  Now, we live in a wonderful electronic age where a pastor may communicate with many people in different geographical locations using many different mediums.  I have personally benefited from these electronic forms of communication greatly.  I have a library of incredible resources, including commentaries, the Bible in the original languages, linguistic resources, and many journals; information at my fingertips from which I prepare my messages.  For several years, I lived in the mountains in Colorado where there were no doctrine teaching pastors.  I leaned upon a pastor who distributed tapes of his teaching.  I remember understanding, at some point in my spiritual growth, from that doctrinal teaching, the necessity of being a part of a local Church, being taught by the pastor I had chosen, locally. 

      But this dissemination of doctrine by other than local communication does not negate the principle of one shepherd and one flock.  A pastor needs to be physically present with his congregation to minister to them fully as the our Lord has mandated he do.  In this time of spiritual decline in this country there may not be a pastor who is accurately teaching the Word of God in your geographical periphery.  If not, then, by all means you should seek out a pastor who is communicating electronically and be spiritually fed in that manner.  However, if there is a pastor in your local area who is faithfully teaching the Word accurately, it is your responsibility to support that pastor so that the potential dynamics of that local Church can be fulfilled.  We will discuss those dynamics a bit later in this study.  But, you need to understand that you will continue to grow up spiritually if you listen faithfully, applying the principles of grace perception when listening to the teaching ministry of the local pastor God has provided.  Does God provide a local pastor to every area locally?  Not being omniscient, I can’t answer that question!  However, I have noted by my own observation that God has provided pastors to those local areas where believers are positive!

You may look at biblical examples of apostles who wrote letters to Churches as fulfilling the pastor absentia role.  By pastor absentia, I mean a pastor communicating via electronic media to a group of believers in another locale, in ancient times, an apostle writing letters to Churches.  When Paul wrote letters to Churches, those letters were sent to local Churches who had pastors. As a matter of fact, he sometimes sent those letter with the pastors he had appointed!  Why?  Why didn’t Paul function as a pastor absentia?  As an apostle, Paul did have authority over many congregations.  But he chose not to act as their pastor because he recognized the need for pastor to congregation communication.  Also, the benefits of congregation to pastor communication can be mind boggling! The letters from any of the apostles to the Churches had to be interpreted and taught to the congregations by someone who was qualified, i.e. a pastor teacher who understood the theological issues presented in the letters.  No untrained member of a congregation could pick up one of Paul’s, Peter’s or John’s letters and teach it thoroughly then any more then, than today.  It took theological training then, it takes theological training today!

     Secondly, a pastor must be sensitive to the needs of one specific congregation.  Generally, one congregation may be in a different stage of spiritual growth than another, therefore, it’s needs may differ from another congregation.  Generally, congregations are composed of believers in all stages of spiritual growth.  Also, the challenges of one congregation may certainly differ from that of another congregation.  Another deals with the issue of communication between the congregation and it’s pastor.  There is no reason a pastor cannot respond to actual requests to deal more closely with certain doctrinal issues.  For instance, my initial intent was to proceed quickly through our current study of dispensations and return to our study of Philippians, as quickly as possible!  I was asked to spend more time in dispensations, paying more attention to the important facets of each era as it applies to our Church Age.  As it stands, what I began as an hour and a half study has expanded to 10 hours and we haven’t even left the first dispensation!  The study has been very enriching to me, leading me into depths of the Word I did not expect to delve into.  So, it’s a two way street.  There are also dynamics that the local Church can have upon it’s local community which require local leadership to fulfill, recognizing, bringing together and leading those with certain spiritual gifts to minister to the community.  In this way, the Church can fulfill it’s role of reaching out to a lost and dying world the way Christ did when He walked this earth.  We are all mandated to be ambassadors for Christ.  Local Church outreach is one way of fulfilling that responsibility.

     The pastor is also guardian of a system of authority which is designed to protect the congregation and to ensure the stable flow of doctrinal teaching without interference.  This includes leadership, the delegation of authority and efficient administration.  There are many responsibilities in the local Church, which must be discharged to ensure that the Church runs smoothly.  The pastor cannot discharge these himself, yet he must be assured that they are discharged according to doctrinal principles.  The pastor-teacher is in charge of the system of administration and must understand how to effectively delegate authority.  Failure to master this concept leads to two different problems.  The pastor who insists on doing everything by himself doesn’t study as he should leading to a spiritually malnourished congregation and to his own burn out.  A do-it-all pastor doesn’t have the time to study!  The second problem deals with his relationship with the board of deacons.  A board of deacons and a congregation without local leadership is like a ship without a captain.  Every local congregation needs the spiritual leadership that only the divinely provided spiritual gift of pastor-teacher can bring to insure the proper function of the Church as per the Word of God.